Time's Running Out!

I’ve been here 10 months and the time seems to have gone by so quickly. I can’t believe it; I’m really not ready to go yet. It might be partly because I’m about to leave, but I feel like I’m getting things done in the office, enjoying and doing a good job at teaching, helping a little, and continuing to build relationships with people. Now that people know I’m leaving in under 4 weeks (ok closer to 3 but I don’t want to say it!) it’s certainly time to make the most of the time that’s left. As the English teacher likes to say, “Time is money.”

So things are going well; I’m trying to balance time with people in the office, down at MwanaNshuti, seeing others, and taking some time to myself (and hopefully get more job applications in). Work highlights have been good steps organizationally in the office and English class and finally “co-teaching” the way it should be. Collaborating. Talking. Good stuff. Maybe I will leave behind a little something that is noticeable.

It’s going to be a sad day when I leave my students. Even several of the ones I don’t speak with that much (they are shy or not comfortable in English) have told me they will be sad to see me go. I’ve heard that too much the past week and it’s making it even harder for me to think about leaving. So I’m trying to prepare fun lessons, do things we haven’t done yet (kickball didn’t work out so well on the first attempt but watching “Bend it like Beckham” was a huge hit!), and of course taking more photos and laughing a lot. The students’ phrase of the week was “It’s okay.” Apparently I say it a lot and Fatuma has helped them all catch on and they love imitating me. It makes me laugh, and I like laughing, so we all have fun.

Random recent highlights:

        

New dress = good day to take photos with the students!

 ~Getting my dress from Samuel (sewing teacher at MwanaNshuti) – and a million compliments (I don’t usually “dress up” as most of you know!)

Mail system in Kigali - PO boxes

           ~I got a package from home! (Thanks Mom!) It was also my first time to check the mail here in Kigali (thanks Ruth and Annie for doing it usually). After, I went for ice cream and bought bread and cheese to bring back for lunches/snacks (local cheese is back after 3 months!). It was an exciting day.


  ~Going to do ‘umuganda’ (communal work day) with my students – talking with Espée on the way up and helping them dig/cut the grass (with a hoe!) despite their protests that I couldn’t or shouldn’t do it!

          ~Learning to cut corn off the stalks at MwanaNshuti with the other teachers (the angle is quite important…60 degrees not 90!)…and wondering how corn is harvested in the US!

Teachers hard at work (all 4 of us happened to be around at the same time! very rare)

The English teachers showing our work and
the corn Rwandans love.

         

          

~Going to visit our friend Esther (a teacher at a nice girls’ school in the village kinda) – a good time to relax, play games (pass the pigs and Dutch Blitz!) and do some logic puzzles, everything I love!

          ~Teaching Joyce’s kids how to play Snakes and Ladders on a homemade board. Jessica (age 8) and Joyce loved it and Bridget (age 4) had fun rolling the die, counting to 10 in English and randomly setting her marker down near ours (or often on the same square as me). It was cute.

Gotta learn and do these things while I can! I’m hoping there will be more fun memories like that in the next couple weeks before I go. I certainly wish I could “do more” for my students and (often) I really wish I could finish the school year with them, but I realize there really isn’t a lot I can do for them and because of the language barrier - I can’t really talk with them about their lives, problems at home or their hopes for the future. So I’m trying to set aside my desires and things I had hoped (or still hope) to accomplish and entrust my friends and students into God’s hands. And my future too, I suppose. After all, we could be in no better place.

A photo with 3 sweet girls who live 2+ hours away from school!
(Ok people here don't walk fast, but still...although who blames them for going slowly if they have that far to go!?!)

Beautiful smiles girls, thank you!

Group shot - back to no smiles of course...

If you see far, you will go far

In exactly one month and one week I will be leaving Kigali. Forever, or maybe not. I don't really know where I will end up - which is a bit stressful - or if I'll come back here one day. I'm trying to be okay with the uncertainties and finish my time here so I will feel good about leaving and not have any regrets. So I've made a (fairly long) list of tasks to accomplish at work and a (shorter) list of things to do and people to spend time with in Kigali before I go. I also have a long list of schools to apply for - please pray for energy, wisdom and guidance as I try to answer the questions and submit applications. If nothing else I have been incredibly thankful to see some job opportunities (math teaching in Chicago) and have an unlimited internet modem in my possession for the past month or so. Work-wise, my list of tasks is too long for the amount of time I have with my co-workers (who seem to be increasingly hard to find in the office) so I need to let go of many of my optimistic "maybe i could do this before i leave..." and stick with the priorities. And possibly nail Jonas to his chair when he gets back :) jk

Although hard to capture on photo, Mutoni's smile
and jokes are frequent parts of days at MwanaNshuti.

Although the office/administrative support part of my job hasn't been moving far this past month, teaching has been going well. It is a rare treat for a teacher to have so many students who want to learn so badly and are eager participants in class- I should soak this up before I go home and teach HS math!! Their desire to know English has begun to spill outside of class and I have had many occasions to smile (like a proud parent perhaps) as I watch them attempt English outside of class. For example, their favorite pastime (when I allow it) is having me take their photo but now they must ask in English. This often results in a bit of chattering among the students until one can remind the others how to say "I need a photo." (They found this phrase on their own, maybe I will teach them a politer question next week...) Not speaking much Kinyarwanda is beneficial for their English learning, because often they have to find a way to say what they want to say in English for me to understand. This usually involves teamwork between the students to find the right words, although some students have already been unofficially elected as spokesmen for the others (the handful who are clearly stronger in English). But given some have only been studying English for 3 months, 4 hours a week, I appreciate any and all attempts. Mutoni (pictured at sewing machine) is such a talkative and carefree girl and I wish I could stay long enough for her to learn enough English so I could understand what she says - it seems to often be something ridiculous as she makes the students laugh often. For now, Mutoni usually speaks to me through Esperance.

I love hearing Espee's laugh and seeing
her eager face in lessons and on the
soccer field. She also often tells
other students what to do in English :)

Esperance (Espée, shown on the right), of all the girls in the program, is one of the brightest, most friendly and responsible yet also strong and spirited girls (i.e. someone who isn't afraid to say what she thinks, rather than the common trait of girls who are quiet, submissive and don't speak their mind). I like her a lot. She is excellent at English (compared to the others) so we actually had a 1-on-1 conversation the other day which was great. She has finished 3 years of secondary school (equivalent of 7-9th grade) and I really hope there will be a way for her to return to school soon and graduate. In Rwanda you need to choose a program of study (math/science, humanities, literature, languages, accounting, nursing, etc.) to study and Espee says she wants to study nursing or accounting. I believe she could do it if she had the chance!

"If you see far, you will go far." 

I plan to share this quote with my students soon because I really want them to begin to develop a dream or a vision for their life. I know their lives are difficult and "going somewhere" might be difficult or near impossible. But if they don't dream then it will be virtually impossible for them to do something whereas if they "see far" they might just have a chance to reach that dream.

I heard this quote from the director of an inspiring project for street children in Kigali called "Les Enfants de Dieu" (children of God). His program receives boys who are living on the streets, and provides education, lodging and a community until they are socialized enough to be able to attend a school in the vicinity. The most stunning part of the program was the way it is run; there are 8 boys who are elected ministers who each  oversee one of the aspects of the center and have absolute decision-making power (in terms of budgeting and project planning). Every expense must be approved by the appropriate Minister before a staff member can purchase it and a new project idea must be approved by the Ministers as well (even a project suggested by the director of the center). If they say no, it won't happen (unless the director can convince them to change their mind) - so a few projects he suggested haven't gone through.

Rafiki, director of "Les Enfants de Dieu", standing next to
the door of their initial building - a testimony to "where it all began."

The Director told us that he wants to counter the common belief among street children that they are worthless ("nul" In French) and how better to do that than to give them responsibility and trust them in that position. The coordinator of Friends Peace House (where I work) had a hard time believing that was possible or wise, but I affirm this. The director gives the kids a small way to "see far" and begin to steer their lives in a good direction where they will be able to "go far" one day.


The problems many Rwandese face are not problems that can easily (or perhaps ever) be overcome. Sometimes this weighs me down. But I like the thought of slowly empowering children, youth and adults to see their value and then to be able to dream and envision a good future for themselves or their children. That's one of the strongest hopes I have for the young people here - especially my students. My role in this is so little.

I believe it's time to share these hopes with my students - and tell them I'm leaving soon - and begin to cross things off my bucket list in Kigali...hopefully there will be some fun and more memories made in the midst of the seriousness and reality that I'm leaving in 5 weeks.